On 17 April 1915, the British ship “Manitou”, carrying 147th Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery and the transport section of the 2nd Battalion of the South Wales Borderers, was approached by the Ottoman Turkish boat “Dhair Hissar”. It was positioned between Skyros and Chios, some ten miles off Skyros, and was on its way from Alexandria to Lemnos, the forward island base for forthcoming operations at Gallipoli.

Contemporary reports suggest that “Dhair Hissar” gave the “Manitou” eight minutes to abandon ship before it fired torpedoes to sink it. It is said that three were eventually fired but all missed. On abandoning ship, two of the “Manitou”s life boats were lost with heavy loss of life. One is reported to have capsized and the other to have fallen into the sea when its davit crane collapsed. HMS “Dartmouth” and HMS “Minerva” reportedly chased the “Dhair Hissar” off, and survivors were picked up by HMS “Doris”.

147th Brigade RFA had been billeted at Milverton in Leamington Spa before proceeding to the Mediterranean. It was one of four brigades under command of 29th Division, which would famously make the initial landing at Cape Helles, Gallipoli, on 25 April 1915. The 2nd South Wales Borderers was part of the same division. It was an ominous start to the division’s campaign.

Sadly, the war diary of 147th Brigade was not started until October 1915 but this is due to the fact that its batteries were landed and fought as separate units in the first weeks of the Gallipoli campaign. The brigade was comprised of numbers 10, 97, 368 and 460 (Howitzer) Batteries and the Brigade Ammunition Column.

From the “Illustrated London News” of 22 May 1915.

From the “Illustrated London News” of 22 May 1915.

The “Leamington Spa Courier” reported the casualty list as follows:

All of the dead are commemorated at the Helles Memorial at Gallipoli.

The table below presents the data held by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and is based on accessing their database on 2 February 2018.

Rank

Number

Surename

Forenames

Age

Unit

Other information

Battery Quartermaster Serjeant

'10637'

COOPER

EDWARD WILLIAM

30

10 Battery

Son of Thomas and Teresa Cooper, of Cork; husband of Florence E. Herbert (formerly Cooper), of 16, Chester St., Reading.

Driver

'34471'

PIDDINGTON

WILLIAM FREDERICK THOMAS

34

10 Battery

Son of the late William and Mary Ann Piddington; husband of Edith Mary Piddington, of West St., Dunster, Taunton.

Driver

'93879'

WELSH

ROBERT

10 Battery

Serjeant

'17060'

LIMMEX

CHARLES HENRY

33

368 Battery

Son of the late John and Sarah Ann Limmex.

Acting Bombardier

'48407'

MARTIN

WILLIAM HENRY

368 Battery

Gunner

'31105'

McDONALD

WILLIAM

368 Battery

Gunner

'55348'

MULHERNS

PAUL

25

368 Battery

Son of the late William and Norah Mulherns.

Gunner

'49793'

PATRICK

ARTHUR ROLAND

24

368 Battery

Son of Louis and Annie Patrick, of 47, Great King St., Hockley, Birmingham.

Son of William and Rebecca Locke; husband of Ellen Locke, of 84, Fitzalan St., Kennington Rd., London.

Bombardier

'52988'

MABEY

CHARLES WALTER

Driver

'6865'

MATCHETT

JOHN

Driver

'41807'

MEADTH

JOHN

Serjeant

'33674'

MOFFATT

ROBERT MICHAEL

Driver

'82380'

MORSS

THOMAS JAMES

Driver

'35956'

MUSGRAVE

JOSEPH WILLIAM

44

Son of the late Thomas and Helen Musgrave; husband of Annie Musgrave, of 20, Harold Place, Burley, Leeds. Born at York. Served eight years in India.

Driver

'78135'

PETTIT

HERBERT

20

Son of John and Eliza Pettit, of Hadham Cross, Much Hadham, Herts.

Gunner

'53093'

RATHBONE

ARTHUR

Gunner

'60904'

WALLACE

PATRICK JOSEPH

25

Son of Edward and Sarah Wallace, of 3, West Watergate, Limerick, Ireland.

Gunner

'54881'

WILLIS

THOMAS ARTHUR

Private 9983 Henry Hogg of the 2nd South Wales Borderers also lost his life. His comrade Lance Corporal 9576 Ernest Frost, listing as missing, survived. It was discovered that he had been picked up by a tug and had been taken to hospital in Malta.

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